THE LA RAZA CRIME TIDAL WAVE - “These figures do not attempt to allege that foreign
nationals in the country illegally commit more
crimes than other groups,” the report states. “It
simply identifies thousands of crimes that should
not have occurred and thousands of victims that
should not have been victimized because the
perpetrator should not be here.”
CHARLOTTE CUTHBERTSON

Me and Jeff Sessions

Of the appointments President-Elect Trump is likely to make, Jeff Sessions will likely be the only one I know personally. This being so, I am minded to scribble a few words concerning what I know of him.

In 1995, in the Alabama Republican Primary, Jeff and I were both on the ballot, he for the Senate and I for Congress. I lost, but Jeff won against six credible candidates, and he went on to win in the general election against three not so credible Democrats. (Two years previously, I had lost in the primary by 23 votes out of 50,000 cast.) Since we were both on the ticket, naturally, Jeff's and my paths crossed on occasions. In fact, after my loss, what had been my campaign headquarters in Huntsville was bequeathed to the Sessions campaign. It was used, among many other things, for a rendezvous with John McCain when his bus came rolling in.

Through that time, and since then, I have gotten to know this man well. His humility is becoming. When friends in his hometown of Mobile were trying to get him to run for the Senate, they had to use force. At the beginning, he was in the office of a supporter, drawn there to make money-raising calls. Jeff made one call and hem-hawed around, and then he hung up the phone; said, "I can't do this"; and headed for the door. His host caught him by the sleeve, led him back to the phone, and sat menacingly by his side as he made his first few calls. The idea of going down a list of unknown names, calling them, and asking them for money seemed unnatural and egotistical to this young man, who was used to the modest and genteel ways in which he was reared.

Jeff spent his youth in Minden, Alabama. It's somewhere down there below Montgomery. Let me know if your map is detailed enough to show it. In high school, he worked as a clerk in a hardware store, where he sold, among other things, horse collars. Yes, horse collars. I have referred to that happenstance frequently, as I am now, as evidence of a youth being groomed to become a man of earthy earnestness and honesty with a practical understanding of life.

My friendship with Jeff Sessions has been constant through the years. Only once did one of our conversations occur with the raised voices of a disagreement. And that was like a mark in the snow that evaporated at sunrise. Shortly afterward, we greeted each other with chuckles, not words, acknowledging the triviality of the incident.

Jeff Sessions is all that the outlaws now about to be trundled out of town on the tumbrel are not. Above all, he is honest. He is patriotic, hardworking for the good, and of good instincts. If the rest of Mr. Trump's appointees merely approach the goodness of Jeff Sessions, we will have the good and great government that I, together with those reading these words, have hoped for so long.

THE LA RAZA CRIME TIDALWAVE….. then they go vote Democrat for wider open borders and more welfare!

We need to reform legal immigration, too

The appointment of immigration hardliner Jeff Sessions to be Attorney General is a strong signal that Donald Trump is serious about tackling the issue that launched his campaign.

When Mr. Trump famously descended the escalator at Trump Tower and announced his candidacy, his signature issue became illegal immigration. That issue helped propel him to the White House.

He is now set to deliver a coherent set of policies designed to give us real, rather than illusory, border security. These include, but are not limited to: the construction of physical barriers to entry, the development a system to prevent visa overstays, the enforcement of e-verify and implementation of other employer sanctions, and the instigation of deportations. Most of these items can be done as part of his executive authority and do not need the approval of Congress.

Once border enforcement is implemented, however, President Trump needs to use his considerable persuasive skills to convince Congress to enact a new immigration law for the 21st century. In the long run, reform of the legal immigration system is as urgent a priority for America as the control of illegal immigration.

The last reform of the immigration system took place in 1965 with the passage of the Hart-Cellar Immigration and Nationality Act. Among other things, the new law gave preference to family reunification over demonstrable skills.

Thus, the 1965 Act made it harder for skilled immigrants to gain entry into the U.S. compared to relatives of recent immigrants (Mexico as opposed to the U.K., for instance).

As a result, the U.S. now has a large number of immigrants that are less skilled and educated than native-born Americans -- an irrational policy in the best of times but one which is increasingly indefensible at a time of decreasing demand for unskilled labor.

We urgently need to adopt a new immigration system, geared for the 21st century, designed to attract immigrants based on their skill levels and ability to assimilate, as opposed to the old system based on family reunification. An updated system could build in preferences for immigrants with high incomes, high education, high skills, access to investment capital, and fluency in English.

In developing such a system, the U.S. could look north of the border.

According to F.H. Buckley, law professor at George Mason University, “the Canadian system gives preference to immigrants who can be expected to make native Canadians better off. What that means is that Canada admits a lot more people on the basis of economic merit.”

“Canada prefers younger immigrants, people who are educated, people who want to go to places where there are labor shortages, people who are going to start businesses in Canada and hire Canadians,” Buckley says.

“Economic criteria are also a pretty good proxy for the virtues of good character,” he observes. “Not being priests, immigration bureaucrats may not be able to screen people for the cardinal virtues. But if they select immigrants on the basis of education, industry, and entrepreneurship, they’re likely to get a pretty good sort of fellow. They’ll also be picking immigrants more likely to integrate into Canadian society and to adopt its values — which Canadians think is a good thing.”

It is a good thing and should serve as a model for the U.S.

Ending the family reunification preference and enacting a 21st century immigration law that emphasizes skill and merit would be an immigration law that puts America first. What a concept!